Thanks to Penn’s Green Campus Partnership, QuakerFest is becoming more environmentally sustainable. This year, QuakerFest, the alumni tailgate held before the Homecoming football game, will be a zero-waste event, in line with the University’s ReThink Your Footprint waste minimization awareness campaign. A zero-waste event is an event where at least 90% of event waste is diverted from landfills. All waste that is produced at the event will be recyclable, compostable, or reusable.

The goal of the ReThink Your Footprintcampaign is to raise the level of conversation about waste management beyond solely recycling and into a broader discussion of source reduction and reuse – resulting in greater diversion of campus waste from the landfill. ReThink Your Footprint culminates during three weeks, November 4 – 22, with an awareness campaign designed to engage the entire Penn Community. In support of our Climate Action Plan’s goals in the area of waste minimization, an assortment of initiatives, events, presentations, and other forms of outreach will take place during this period to share information about environmentally sustainable practices in source reduction, reuse, and recycling.

With up to 1,000 people attending QuakerFest, this event is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate ReThink Your Footprint in action. At QuakerFest, all plates and utensils will be compostable. Student volunteers will help attendees with zero-waste decision-making when they finish eating at the QuakerFest picnic. Other volunteers will help explain what zero-waste events are and how this event ties in to Penn’s Climate Action Plan goals to attendees.